Stonemaier Games: Scythe - A Strategy Board Game by Jamey Stegmaier | An Engine-Building, Area Control Strategy Game Set in Dieselpunk 1920+ Europe for Adults & Family | 1-5 Players, 115 Mins

Scythe is hands down my favorite board game, and it’s one I can play over and over again without ever getting tired of it. Every play feels different thanks to the combination of asymmetric factions, player mats, and multiple viable paths to victory. Whether I’m focusing on combat, economy, popularity, or careful expansion, the game always presents new strategic puzzles to solve. What really sets Scythe apart is how rewarding it feels to improve with each play. The more I play, the more I notice small optimizations, clever timing decisions, and opportunities to outthink my opponents. The balance between long-term planning and moment-to-moment choices keeps me fully engaged from start to finish. On top of that, the production quality and artwork are incredible and pull everyone at the table into its alternate-history world. Scythe consistently hits the table because it’s deep, satisfying, and endlessly replayable. If you enjoy strategic games that reward thoughtful decision-making and offer lasting replay value, Scythe is an absolute must-own.

Behold!! Gaze in amazement, as you have stumbled upon the greatest board game, in all the ages! Prepare yourself to be immersed in a glorious steam-punk reality of endless wonder! You my friend, are about to embark on the intrepid journey that is.... Scythe!! With the expansion pack, choose from 7 different factions, and 7 different game boards to set forth on your quest of glory! Boost your defenses, conquer your surrounding land, and take no prisoners from your enemies! I've currently played well over 100 games of scythe, which probably clocks in close to 150 hours of total game time. I can honestly say it is THE most fun board game I've played, and I'm still not tired of it. Many other board games I will vouch for as being amazing, and I've played them several times over, but at some point, even those games become a little stale, and the gameplay itself becomes boiled down to a science. Such is not the case with scythe. It's got just enough random elements to keep it fresh and new every time you play it, without making it so random that you have no control over the outcome. It's the perfect blend. And now with its most recent expansion "Wind Gambits" the game has evolved anymore. But for newcomers, don't let the expansion intimidate you. I highly recommend playing the base game of Scythe for all it's worth (which is a TON) before worrying about playing with the expansion. I am an avid board gamer, and this is truly a one of a kind game that I have yet to become bored with, and I have yet to dice up into a science. Every single game will have you attempting new strategies, and exploring new options to declare yourself the victor. One of the most exciting parts of Scythe is that when the game ends, rarely will there ever be a distinct winner before the final points have been carefully calculated. There is a Scythe app on iOS and Android that I highly recommend downloading for deciding factions at the beginning of the game, and tallying score at the end. Without going into game play detail (I'll leave that to the rulebook) What I can say is that Scythe is, on the surface, a very complex game, but once you get your feet wet and play it, it really isn't too terrifying to learn. There's only so much you can do per turn, and once you run through it a few times, you begin to see the gears of the game click and turn, and you'll have a well running engine of a faction in no time! If you're just starting out with a group of people who are also new to the game, you're going to have your questions and missteps along the way where you might find you weren't playing certain rules down to their very exact intent, but this is perfectly fine. A lot of the fun in Scythe is discovering all the things you missed, or even may have been doing incorrectly, and changing up your game for the next time. For the most part, Scythe is an incredibly balanced game. If you get into a rhythm of playing with a core group of people, you'll start to realize the few imbalances it has *cough* Industrial Rusviet *cough* and learn to play around them. Again, figuring out what each faction is good at, how to make it work with your unique play mat, and formulate the best plan of attack, are just a few of the things that make Scythe such an immersive and brilliant game that will have you wanting to re-rack the game again and again. Hour and half to two-hour sessions seem like mere minutes when you really start grasp how fun the game is. If I had one gripe about the game, it would be the amount of players that can play. It's nice that Scythe can include 7 players, especially if you have a lot of board-game savvy friends who all want to be included. But be warned! 6 or 7-player games of Scythe tend to drag on, and when that happens, more often than not, one if not more people will lose interest, and thus become unenthused with the game. And nothing kills the fun of a game, like some one who is currently playing the game and not giving a crap about it. So if you have 6 or 7 brave souls willing to stick it out, it's best that all parties involved have a vast knowledge of the game, and indeed the actually WANT to play, knowing full well what they are signing up for. The sweet spot for Scythe, seems to be around the 4-5 player mark. The games are long enough that you don't feel cheated out of an epic board game experience, but short enough that the ADD in your friends doesn't start to show itself, and manifest into playing candy crush on their phones in between turns. Scythe is a massively wonderful game of strategy that I would absolutely suggest to any board game enthusiast looking to play one of the greatest games of all time. If new to board games, I would suggest watching several Scythe tutorials on the internet or playing with some one who has played before and has a good concept of the game. Again, it's complex, but not so much that I would say anyone wanting to learn the game, wouldn't be able to, regardless of their prior knowledge of board games. If you're willing to invest a little time to learn this game, you won't be disappointed!!

There is a reason this game is so high on the best of all time list on boardgamegeek. I've played a ton of games, some with very little luck involved (Puerto Rico) and some with great concepts/themes, but a little TOO much luck (like HeroScape). Scythe strikes a good balance between strategic planning and the random nature of their wartorn area in an alternate history. I'd probably call it a 4x game (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate), but it feels like it does each of those concepts a little (or a lot) different than many other games out there. Combat plays out kind of like a bluffing game of poker. No dice rolling. Personally I like dice combat when it's balanced or has cards/abilities to offset pure randomness. So the combat took some getting used to, but there are pretty good incentives NOT to attack as well. Overall, it feels like you're doing your own thing with the occasional skirmish. That is apparently intentional and I like that. Terra Mystica is similar, but no combat at all in that game. Scythe is not an easy game to pick up and play. It's very easy to play the game incorrectly and sometimes the cards or rules are just vague. I had to look up a few things online when it was clear in the rulebook (or took too long). I think a lot of the confusion lies in the game design. The artwork is absolutely beautiful, but there needs to be clearer game icons and navigation. The biggest offenders are the faction/player mats and most of your time will be spent looking at these. There are symbols that don't really help define anything, can and can't actions that don't have a visually logical flow, and too much reliance on the rulebook. That last part sounds dumb, but I believe there should be visual reminders to the game's rules on the pieces, cards, and mats in front of you. One of the few games I've played that gives players a "turn order/what actions you can do" card that is almost worthless. There are also no "footstomps," in the rulebook. Important rules should be bolded, highlighted, have reminders, examples, etc. There is a terminology list at the back, but I found myself looking stuff up on my phone because it was a lot faster and the answer was clearer. One of our players struggled bad with the concept of producing since it shows that you "pay a worker" first. It's not very clear when/where/how to do something without reading the 30+ page rulebook. The inverse of that mildly bad gameflow design, is that once you get the general flow of the game, it can play pretty quickly. It took 3 of us 1 hr and 40 minutes the first time we played. Not bad considering they estimate 25 minutes per player. I know it sounds like quite a bit of complaining, but to me these are mild annoyances that are merely highlighted because the game is so fantastic.

Scythe is an incredible board game of economic engine management and territory control. The components are top-notch and the art is absolutely gorgeous. It is an immersive, lengthy game with a rather steep learning curve for casual games. It is suitable for patient adults and advanced adolescents. Expect to spend about four hours familiarizing yourself with the rules and the board, and playing your first game. It may be difficult to play with a large group if your friends and family aren't fully committed to learning a fairly exhaustive (though not particularly intimidating) rulebook. "Replayability" is uncommonly high, as well, due to Scythe's rich assortment of "factions" and unpredictability. I can imagine nearly infinite ways a game could unfold. Scythe pits factions of power-hungry individuals against each other in an imaginary, post-WWI world of nearly dystopian scarcity. Players assume the roles of characters that represent different nation-states, all of which are vying for resources and territory following a period of sociopolitical unrest. Players can control character movement, select actions to increase resource production, maximize efficiency to gain power an influence, and conquer territories. Your global achievements in these arenas contribute to your final score and the game ends after a player completes six specific objectives. Played poorly, one could conceivably end the game by completing these achievements AND lose. Scythe is unique because skill is valued more than chance. On that note, luck's role is Scythe is kept to a bare minimum compared to other games in similar genres. Resource management, move/turn prioritization, and skillful board mastery are rewarded more handsomely than rote combat, of which there is surprisingly little. Combat interactions are performed using power modifiers that are mostly the result of judicious play. Mine, harvest, trade, bribe, build, conquer, pillage: Scythe has it all in spades. Of note, the "Automa" deck - a group of cards and rules designed to simulate a human opponent for solo play - is a world-class production. Its moves are intuitive, and its actions never feel random nor arbitrary. Automa feels like a living, sentient, rational opponent that is always one step ahead of you. Automa's difficultly level is also adjustable from "easy" (a loose interpretation of the word) to extraordinarily challenging, and you can buy expansion packs to play against multiple simulated players. It's a great way to spend an evening. If you're up for a completely immersive, steampunk-inspired game that values efficient choices and skill above dice rolling (not a die to be found), I highly recommend giving Scythe a try. It is a complex game of beauty that will soon be heralded amongst the best board games ever created. Very, very well done, Stonemaier Games.

This game is really fun, but if you've never played- it might be a little intimating! It's a heavy box, then you open it and see all these pieces and directions and go "Oh boy!" I would recommend playing with someone who has played before. If you don't have that, my friends and I had Game Night "homework" and we had to go home and watch videos and read directions so that by the next game night we would collectively have an idea on how to play! Doing that was really helpful and made the New Game Jitters subside. It took us 3.5 hours with 3 people on our first try. Then it got easier and faster thereafter. Once you get the first game out of the way, then the fun and strategy begins! We like this game a lot and we are glad that we got it. There are expansions, and we play with those too. It is an in-depth game, and requires a lot of multi-stage planning. If you like strategy, old world+technology, "attacking" your friends, and world domination, then you'll like this game! Though I have won before without attacking anyone, so it can be done peacefully too! This game also makes me wish I could paint miniatures because those mechs would look so cool painted!! (Note: the coin and resources container does not come with the game, it was a gift).

Product came in perfect condition. Game is complex but interesting

I was very excited to get this board game after reading all of the wonderful reviews on here and elsewhere. When it arrived we really enjoyed all of the beautiful artwork and appreciated how it was relatively easy to set up and play for the first time. During our first two player game (we have played it as a two player game about 10 times, have not tried with a larger group as of yet) we particularly enjoyed the artwork/text on the different encounter cards. This has continued to be a nice feature of the game, but was the most fun when novel. Also have continued to enjoy the different styles of the mecs for each character. The game is well-balanced, however as other reviewers have noted, it has a tendency to end quickly and unexpectedly. After we played through a few times we adjusted to this, but it sometimes can be a bit of a let down when you unexpectedly don't get a last turn that you had been planning for. The game has many different strategies you can take and therefore has a lot of replayability. I would recommend this game to anyone who likes medium complexity games that you can play from 1-5 players (works nicely with two for my husband and I). It does not make it to the very top of my favorite board games, but is in the top 10.

My brother taught me this game and I freaking love it! By far, one of THE BEST strategy games I’ve ever played. Bought it and I love it even more now.

What a great game. Yes it takes some time to understand it, and even more to master it, and sometimes even more to explain it to someone who wants to play with you, but man is it amazing. Every playthrough is like a new book. Fully emerges you in the world of Scythe. Big win for me is you don't need dice to play. It is turn based. My only wish is that the pieces were more than basic wooden shapes. Would have added a lot of character.

This is an impressive board game. There are a lot of moving parts to win the game, but it is well worth it. I purchased this game for my 12 year for her birthday who loves competition board games. She loves it. The detail and quality of the game is amazing, well made and very well thought out. Highly recommended for advance game players. Only challenge is learning the rules and understanding on your first go... but you get the hang of it once you get started. Love the game so far.

Es un juego profundo en cuanto sus mecánicas, que reduce el componente de aleatoriedad a su mínima expresión, pero que tiene una curva de aprendizaje muy benévola con el jugador. Se aprende a jugar de forma básica muy rápido lo que facilita entrar en partidas largas a los pocos días. Además los dibujos son una maravilla.

Being a person that recently got into the hobby of board games after playing Catan with friends, this game caught my eye immediately. It's a fantastic game, with enough complexity to keep multiple playthroughs competitive and interesting. The character and mech peices are intricate and detailed, and the overall design of the board and cards is beautiful and vibrant. Due to lockdown, we have only played this game among 2 players, but I can't wait to play this with more people, although I may need to get the extension for the board. Even though the learning curve is a bit steep for new players, it is still a game that all board game lovers should have in their collection!

O jogo é maravilhoso de bonito, super bem acabado, veio em perfeito estado!